Our Gardenias

"Because our world has music, and we dance;
Because our world has colour, and they gaze;
Because our speech is tuned, and schooled our glance,
And we have roseleaf nights and roseleaf days,
And we have leisure, work to do and rest;
Because they see us laughing when we meet,
And hear our words and voices, see us dressed
With skill, and pass us and our flowers smell sweet -
They think that we know friendship, passion, love!
Our peacock, Pride, and Art our nightingale!
And Pleasure's hand upon our dogskin glove!
And if they see our faces burn or pale,
It is the sunlight, think they, or the gas.
- Our lives are wired like our gardenias."

-Marc-Andre Raffalovic